The Hobbit: Balin 1/6 statue

When Balin the Dwarf spoke in the great halls of Erebor, the wise would listen. The council of Fundin’s eldest son was much revered among the noble Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and beyond, for he was clear-sighted, discerning and erudite. Even as a young Dwarf, Balin the Dwarf’s artful word-craft was equal to the jewellery of the finest Dwarven smith. A lord in his own right, Balin the Dwarf was cousin to the King Under the Mountain and friend to Prince Thorin Oakenshield in the days of the Dwarf realm’s grandeur.

But that was before the coming of Smaug. In a single devastating assault, Erebor was consumed by fire and death when the Dragon fell upon them. The heirs of Durin fled and with them Balin the Dwarf and his brother Dwalin the Dwarf. Through the long years in exile, Balin the Dwarf’s sage council was depended upon by Thorin Oakenshield, surviving heir to the lost throne and in whom the hope of a displaced people now resided. When Thorin Oakenshield begins making plans to reclaim their home, Balin the Dwarf is with him, resolute, loyal and solicitous, there to provide a thoughtful word in the ear and a sword at his side.

While the old Dwarf is long in beard, his gnarled hands have lost little of their strength over the years and his eyes are still as keen as a hawk’s. Upon his hip he wears a wickedly pointed Dwarven mace. Wrought in the smithies of Erebor lost, its edges are as sharp as any sword and its copper-hued faces blaze like fire in the sun.